[Nell]: 226.Stories.The Fairytale.Part 1

Once upon a time, in a land really, really, really far, far away, there was a noble girl of the Winterland Mountains named Annabella.
Annabella lived with her father and mother and twenty-one brothers and sisters in Castle Ice. She was not special, not the first child, or the last child, or the middle child, or the third child, or the seventh child, or any number like that. She wasn’t the prettiest, or the bravest, or the dumbest, or the ugliest, or the cleverest, or the luckiest, or the unluckiest, she wasn’t even the most unspecial!
She was the fourteenth child, and so utterly nothing that she was afraid that she wasn’t worthy enough to stay in her father’s house. Only one thing made her feel better.
Her sisters and her drew straws each week to see which of them would have to go down to the town to catch up on the gossip, and it was Annabella who got the short one that day, to her great delight.
One of the best places for gossip was the town square; many people gathered there to talk about many things. Sometimes they would get strange visitors. The last one came riding into town, saw Annabella’s eldest sister, and took her away to his castle in the tropical islands to be his queen.
Perhaps today would be the day that her adventure would come riding in! She couldn’t help but hope that she was special too, like all of her other siblings. So when she reached the little town of Zichak, the nearest town to her home, she had a light heart.
The buildings of Zichak were squat, made of grey stone or cedar wood. The snow and icicles dangling from their rooftops glittered merrily in the noon-day sun. The streets were paved with red bricks, and the main road ran right through the middle of the town, which was possibly the only unusual thing about the town itself.
But the people! Zichak was filled with unnatural people. Witches, a couple of wizards, a shoemaker’s daughter with special abilities, some woodcutter’s sons who often went questing, and miniature children no bigger than a finger.
‘Why do they get to have all the fun, when I, the daughter of a noble, get nothing?’ Annabella pouted to herself.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, as she walked through the town, that she almost didn’t see the carriage coming down the main street until it was almost upon her. She leapt back just in time to avoid the trampling hooves of a magnificent pair of great white horses.
The carriage stopped right in front of her, and the door flew open. A fearsome man stood in the frame.
“Beware! The Evil One comes!” he roared and slammed the door. The carriage took off down the road.
The crowds of people that stood nearby began to mummer uncertainly.
Annabella thought that was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her! She still had to cross this road to get to the town square and the gossip, but wait till her sisters heard about this!
She was beginning across, when a loud thundering met her ears. Now she jumped back to avoid getting trampled by a pair of great black horses.
The carriage they were pulling stopped right in front of Annabella, and the door flew open. Two whimpering ladies and a small lad stood in the frame.
“Beware! The Evil One comes!” they wailed and slammed the door. The carriage took off.
The crowds of people that stood nearby began to back away.
‘Well, that was fun,’ Annabella thought, feeling a little unsure. But she really had to get to the town square. Cautiously she stepped out on the road again.
Once again the thundering met her ears. She stepped back just in time to avoid the trampling hooves the great grey horses this time. The carriage that the grey horses pulled also stopped right in front of her. The door flew open and a mad looking old woman stood rigid in the frame.
“Beware! The Evil One comes!” she screeched and slammed the door. The carriage took off.
The crowds of people that stood nearby decided that it was time to go home.
Annabella was getting mad. This was the third time that day she was nearly run over and she still hadn’t crossed the road to get to the town square!
She decided to just run across and hope she wouldn’t get hit.
But as soon as her feet touched the road, the ground began to shake, and it was not horse’s hooves that she heard coming down the road.
A great, green dragon was galloping towards her, wings held close to its body for speed. She froze with fear. The people ran screaming in terror.
The green dragon screeched to a stop just before hitting her. Annabella heard a door slam, and she watched as a midget in a pink bathrobe came sauntering around the dragon.
“Excuse me miss,” he said politely. “But you are standing in the middle of the road. That’s very dangerous, you know.”
“I-I’m sorry,” stuttered Annabella. “Uh, wh-who are you?”
“My name is the Eveal Oun!” He bowed deeply. “I organize the partaking in adventures for all who wish it. Would you like an adventure?”
“Really? Oh yes! I never get to do anything!” said Annabella, so excited that she forgot her previous panic.
“Very well! Be here three days hence at this exact time, and you will have an adventure! Good-day!” He hopped back in his carriage, and Annabella moved out of the way. The green dragon began running again, and was soon out of sight down the road.